We have put Victor Sanchez Beato on top of our list when we decided to visit Toledo in Spain. Victor Sanchez Beato restaurant is next to the museum El Greco and it is in the hotel Pintor El Greco.

We booked our lunch at 14:30 on March 31st, 2024, and we arrived at 14:15 there were twelve guests and the chef and his sous chef waiting for us to start the lunch session.

Victor Sanchez Beato was inspired by the Omakase style of Japanese restaurants where a maximum of 12 or 14 guests gathered around a counter to watch the chef prepare their lunch or dinner in front of them. When all the guests gathered around the open kitchen, the culinary event started.

Our host was very accommodating and hospitable. There was a continuous dialogue between host and guests throughout the lunch with clear descriptions of each dish.

The degustation menu of 55 Euros (seven courses) was a real treat, from the amuse-bouche to the dessert. We liked every dish even the olive oil was amazing.

We did not drink wine, but Victor Sanchez Beato has an exceptional wine pairing offer. We had alcohol free beers option which was surprisingly good. Victor Sanchez Beato and his second, Alvaro were genuinely nice, charming, friendly and had good sense of humor.

Unlike our experience at Ivan Cerdeño, at Victor Beato Sanchez, the guests feel at home, the restaurant has a great atmosphere, and the chef has talent and charisma to share with his guests. Victor Sanchez Beato is a must in Toledo.

Victor Sanchez Beato

Hotel Pintor El Greco

Calle Alamillos Del, Paseo Tránsito, 9,

45002 Toledo, Spain

Tel : +34 677 87 96 33

https://restaurantesanchezbeato.es

To celebrate our 27 years of anniversary my wife and I, we decided to go to Ivan Cerdeño at La Cigarral Del Angel, traditional Toledo-style country house surrounded by verdant gardens along the Tagus. The place reminds us of Tuscany, beautiful and elegant. 

For our dinner on March 31st, 2024, when we arrived in the beautiful house, a lady welcomed us and who took charge of our coats and lead us to our table on the first and main dining floor with a magnificent view onto the garden. Our sommelier asked us which type of drink we prefer to start, a champagne or an in-house cava called Mélangé? We went for the Mélangé, which was particularly good, crispy, and dry as we liked.

We chose the menu Monte y Ribera, a twelve courses menu for 135 Euros. Every dish was delicate, refined and composed. Each dish was prepared and cooked with great technical mastery and extremely elaborate. However, there was one dish, the river crab curd, green apple, and caviar that let us down. This dish was a disappointment for us. We mentioned to our main server because he made a mistake adding orange zest to enhance the taste of the crab, but the orange zest took over the whole savior of the dish.

For the drinks, we did not want to drink wines, so we asked the sommelier if has any alcohol-free proposition to us, the answer was “no” and that was it. It is too bad for a two stars Michelin restaurant and a three Repsol chef, Ivan Cerdeño does not have alcohol-free offer or even a lower alcohol category like Cider or Sake to propose to customers like us.

The service was professional and efficient but somehow impersonal.

After our dinner at Ivan Cerdeño, we realized that something was missing with our experience and that something was “Alma”... At Ivan Cerdeño, the place is beautiful, the food is good, but it is lacking soul and good vibe.

Ivan Cerdeño 

Ctra. de la Puebla de Montalbán, S/N 

45004 Toledo, Spain

Tel : +34 925 22 36 74

https://ivancerdeno.com

Inclan Brutal Bar in Madrid is a funky place , a bar and a restaurant like no others we have seen so far. 

First, the decoration is totally funckadelic and extremely kitsch. There are three rooms with three different ambiances, the bar at the entrance, the red roses room and the more private green Peacocks room. 

For some, the place could be off-putting, but we liked it and the food is good. In speaking of the food, we had selected a degustation menu for 55 Euros which included two cocktails, five dishes and two desserts which is really a bargain for our time.  

We started with their famous Zamburiñas (Pacific Scallops) grilled with the special kimchi sauce, flambéed and with lime zest. The special kimchi sauce is a killer sauce. The second dish; the Bao Panda was bizarrely bland; we were expecting something tastier and spicier. 

The third dish is Shabu Shabu roast pork which we think it is the best dish of the menu. The pork is from Joselito Cabezada made exclusively for Inclan Brutal Bar and cooked at low temperatures and sliced very thin and accompanied by an incredible tasty sauce. The four dish is Tataki de Atun (marinated tuna tataki with pickled of watermelon, yuzu, and cilantro. Fresh and delicious! The last dish is the creamy duck rice with seasonal truffle and finished with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. 

When the desserts arrived, unfortunately, we have no more place in our bellies to appreciate the Brutal Cheesecake and Crusted Chocolate with Violet ice-cream. 

The cocktails are delicious with or without alcohol. 

The service is bilingual and extremely nice and efficient. 

The French chef, Guillaume Brun is having fun to create this original and creative menu for this iconoclast place. 

When you are in Madrid and you wish to have a fun dinner, you should go to Inclan Brutal Bar.

Inclan Brutal Bar 

Calle De Alvarez Gato, 4

28012 Madrid

Spain

Cinco Jotas is not only a large producer of Iberian ham but also has restaurants like the one in Seville where we ended our culinary journey.

As we expected, we eat superb pieces of Iberian ham whether Bellota or Jabugo but not only that, they have other very good dishes like shrimp croquettes with Kimchi, Pappardelle with Jerez sherry and Cinco Jotas, tomato salad with tuna belly and onion, fried squid with apple aioli and fried Padron’s peppers with flakes of fried onions. 

For our lunch, we didn’t drink wine, but we did have a refreshing glass of Sevillana sangria. 

The service is speedy but efficient even though the restaurant was packed. 

If you are an aficionados of “Jamon Iberico” like us, you should set your feet at least once in a Cinco Jotas’ restaurant.

Cinco Jotas Sevilla 

Calle de Castelar, 1,

41001 Sevilla, Spain

Tél : +34 954 21 07 63

www.osborne.es

Espacio Eslava is truly a spectacular place as our friend from Barcelona said in the middle of our meal. Our Barcelonese friend is right, in fact, the tapas and dishes offered by chef Isabel Capote are truly exceptional.

Each dish is designed not only for visual pleasure but also to satisfy the most demanding palates such as Grilled navajas (razorshell) with lemon and the “Cigar for Bequer”, a smooth bechamel with squid ink, cuttlefish and seaweed wrapped in pastry. Each piece is a discovery and a delight. 

We are impressed by the mastery of the cooking and the creativity of the dishes. The dessert menu is truly grandiose like old cheese ice cream. It made with various types of cheese and served over quince cream and goji berry sauce or the chocolate cake and orange essences.  

The wine list is fabulous like our bottles that we ordered, the White from "Tierra Savia" 2020 which is called Mirlo and the Red from the Sierra Norte region of Seville in the name of Zancuo with the Tempranillo and Syrah grapes from 2020.  

The service is professional, smiling, and informative. 

Espacio Eslava is a must try when you are in Seville. The restaurant is not very large with twenty-four seats inside and around ten seats at the counter and a few tables on the terrace and it gets crowded very quickly. It is necessary to book at least one or two weeks in advance.

Espacio Eslava 

Calle Eslava, 3,

41002 Sevilla, Spain

Tél :+34 954 90 65 68 

https://espacioeslava.com